A haunting look inside abandoned US prisons

This abandoned prison in Atlanta, Georgia used to hold geriatric prisoners and remains eerily haunting with wheelchairs, homemade tattoo guns and more.

Image: Caters

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Built in 1950, this former state prison once housed 600 medium-to-minimum security inmates. It consisted of mainly elderly or disabled prisoners sent to live out their remaining years behind bars, and many were confined to wheelchairs or suffering health issues.

Image: Caters

3 of 34Attribution: Caters

Other parts of the building include eight isolation cells and eight dormitories that held around 65 beds each – as well as a prison chapel built from donations.

Image: Caters

4 of 34Attribution: Caters

The Georgia State Prison closed eight years ago as part of cost-saving measures and due to being judged inefficient for purpose.

Image: Caters

5 of 34Attribution: Caters

Urban explorer Abandoned Southeast visited the site last month and found a range of unusual items from homemade tattoo gun (pictured) to a Georgia state flag draped over coat hooks. Click through to see more haunting images of abandoned US prisons -- Content warning: Please note that some images may cause emotional triggers or distress.

Image: Caters

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Wyoming Frontier Prison, Rawlings, WY

Australian-American photographer Brett Leigh Dicks began photographing abandoned US prisons out of curiosity. "Since 2008 the US prison population has been in decline. Older prisons are being replaced with modern and more technologically advanced facilities. I was curious as to what becomes of a prison at the end of its life."

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Wyoming Frontier Prison, Rawlings, WY

"One thing that really caught my attention was the yearning for freedom and openness and greenness and a 360-degree experience of life that is etched into the walls of all the prisons I have visited."

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Wyoming Frontier Prison, Rawlings, WY

"Incarceration in the United States is big business."

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West Virginia State Penitentiary, Moundsville, WV

"When I became a US citizen in 2008 the United States had the highest documented incarceration rate in the world. In a population of 304.1 million, 7.3 million people were behind bars. To put that in a global perspective, 24.7% of the world's prisoners were in US correctional facilities housed at an expense of around $75 billion."

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West Virginia State Penitentiary, Moundsville, WV

"In the old dining hall at the West Virginia State Penitentiary there are the dual paintings of a waterfall and birds circling a mountaintop. The motivation for them was that art would provide a calming atmosphere, but to me, those paintings seem to be more about the process than their ultimate statement. They gave their creators the opportunity to transport themselves to another world while creating them."

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West Virginia State Penitentiary, Moundsville, WV

"I was completely captivated by West Virginia State Penitentiary – not just by its haunting Gothic-style architecture, but also how it was a world unto itself, and how 120 years of history had carved itself into its walls."

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West Virginia State Penitentiary, Moundsville, WV

An inmate cell.

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Missouri State Penitentiary, Jefferson City, MO

"Aside from the oppressiveness of their design and construction, there’s not very much color inside a prison."

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Missouri State Penitentiary, Jefferson City, MO

"And when there is color it’s typically monotone, subdued or monotonous."

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Missouri State Penitentiary, Jefferson City, MO

Entry to the outdoor area.

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Missouri State Penitentiary, Jefferson City, MO

"Painting was obviously an avenue for emotional escape." Content warning: Please note the following two images may cause emotional triggers or distress.

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Penitentiary of New Mexico, Santa Fe, MN

"Exploring a derelict prison is an emotional experience."

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Penitentiary of New Mexico, Santa Fe, MN

"Some of the artifacts and stories you encounter certainly have you questioning your own values and beliefs and even running home to hug your family."

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Penitentiary of New Mexico, Santa Fe, MN

"[It] certainly gives you pause for the consideration of your own values and outlook on life."